


We've All Been Through It

by BrighteyedJill



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, Choking, Come Eating, Gaslighting, Humiliation, I shook a witcher and intergenerational trauma fell out, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Rapist being affectionate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:14:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27083212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrighteyedJill/pseuds/BrighteyedJill
Summary: It was a tradition that the witchers in the School of the Cat all knew about, even if it wasn’t officially endorsed. After all, they’d once been trainees themselves. So on the spring day when all the adults left Stygga Castle for the annual discussion of Cat business, the trainees had their fun. It was a bit like hide and seek, and a bit like tag, with the oldest classes of trainees hunting the younger, those who’d recently gone through the Grasses but had years to go before earning their medallions. Those older trainees would catch whoever they could, and they would play.
Relationships: Aiden/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 62
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	We've All Been Through It

**Author's Note:**

> All the characters involved here are underage; the story takes place during the period where Aiden is a witcher trainee, but his age and the age of his assailants is not specified. Written for Whumptober prompt No.18, "panic attacks." Thanks to some_stars and potatertot for beta assistance.

It was a tradition that the witchers in the School of the Cat all knew about, even if it wasn’t officially endorsed. After all, they’d once been trainees themselves. So on the spring day when all the adults left Stygga Castle for the annual discussion of Cat business, the trainees had their fun. It was a bit like hide and seek, and a bit like tag, with the oldest classes of trainees hunting the younger, those who’d recently gone through the Grasses but had years to go before earning their medallions. Those older trainees would catch whoever they could, and they would play.

Aiden got along with everyone, so as far as he knew, none of the older trainees had it out for him specifically. Not like Teor last year, who’d played a prank on Marcel. Marcel had not been pleased. A group of the older boys had gotten Teor’s scent from the things in his room and tracked him in particular. Their play had been… rough. The instructors hadn’t been happy, afterwards. Aiden is pretty sure the older trainees got a talking to. But Teor hadn’t really been the same since. 

Even if no one had it out for Aiden personally, there was always a risk of becoming a target of opportunity. He was running out of good places to hide. His first year after the Grasses, he’d hidden in the privies, and though no one had bothered to look there, he’d been so sick and miserable that he’d never been desperate enough to use that as a hiding place again. Two years ago one of the recently graduated trainees who’d taken a shine to Aiden told him about a secret spot in the rafters of the stable that was practically invisible from the ground. It had been a good spot, but Aiden was under no illusion that he was the only one who knew about it. Last year Aiden spent most of the winter surreptitiously draining a keg of mead in the cellar, then cracked it open and hidden inside. Unfortunately, when the empty keg was noticed, Master Witold screamed at the trainees about destroying school property, and picked ten trainees at random to be whipped. Aiden didn’t confess that he’d been the one to come up with the idea, but he also didn’t dare try it again. 

Aiden felt optimistic about this year’s plan. He hid himself first in a classroom near the older boys’ dorm until he’d heard the initial rush of the searching trainees pass him by. Then he crept carefully down the short stretch of hall and into the room where the older boys slept. Into the lion’s mouth. But, Aiden reasoned, the lions likely wouldn’t think of checking their own mouth. He settled in behind a set of bunk beds at the far corner of the room. He kept his ears pricked for any sound in the corridor, but felt confident enough to slide a book off of a nearby bed and flip through it while he waited. Sign theory, advanced. Aiden found a page about Igni and began to read.

The sound of a door creaking interrupted his concentration. For a moment, he froze, but then training kicked in. He dropped to the floor and silently, oh so silently, pulled himself under the bed closest to him. 

Voices entered from the corridor. At least two.

“Nah, that’s too much work. I’ll wait a few hours. People get bored, or they get complacent. Hunting’s much easier then.”

“Gaetan.”

Footsteps came into the room, then stopped a few paces in. 

“What?” asked the first voice. And after a moment of silence, “Oh.”

“Under the bed?” said another voice. “Really? Amateur hour.”

Fear flared through Aiden as boots approached. There was no point in waiting to be dragged out from his hiding spot. If he was fast enough, maybe he could still outrun them. He rolled to the side of the bed opposite the door and sprang to his feet. He used his momentum and a hand on the post at the end of the bunk bed to swing himself around. He could see the open door--if he could just get there, he had a chance of losing them in the corridors. 

Something moved so fast it was no more than a blur in Aiden’s peripheral vision before he was being pulled down like the mountain cats pulled down deer: effortlessly and swift. The trainee who landed on top of him was broader and heavier than Aiden, crushing him into the floor and dragging his wrists up behind his back. Aiden tried all of the tricks he’d learned to get out of a stronger opponent’s grapple, throwing his weight to the side, struggling to pull his hands free of the other boy’s grip. But this kid was a witcher, too, and knew how to counter every move. 

“Settle down, little kitten. You’re caught.” The trainee thrust his hips against Aiden’s ass to emphasize his point. 

Aiden stopped flailing against the implacable grip and lay still, breathing hard. He was only wasting energy, and he needed to save it for when he actually had a chance of escape. 

“That’s better.” 

Aiden craned his neck to look up at his captor. It was a boy only a few years older than him, with hair cropped close to his skull. _Gaetan,_ supplied the part of Aiden’s mind that wasn’t running in panicked circles. Behind him were two others, who Aiden thought might be in the cohort ahead of Gaetan’s. Cedric and Axel, known for their inseparability and their short tempers. 

“Now, are you going to cooperate,” Cedric asked, “or do you want us to hurt you first, then make you cooperate?”

Aiden had seen some of his classmates come back from these chases with scars. Aiden was proud of his fighting skills, but he couldn’t hope to fight off any one of the trainees in that age group, let alone three. He nodded once, curtly.

“Good.” Gaetan let go of the painful grip on Aiden’s wrists, and stood, grabbing a handful of Aiden’s curly hair to drag him up onto his knees. “Get to work.”

Aiden found himself at crotch level, staring at the bulge in Gaetan’s breeches. This was the task before him. He knew this is what was expected of trainees who were caught. He should know what to do. He’d even done this with some of the others in his own cohort. Winter nights were long, and a mouth felt so good on his own cock Aiden didn’t mind returning the favor. So it wasn’t as if Aiden didn’t understand what was supposed to happen.

“Hey, catling.” Gaetan gave Aiden a hard shake while the other two trainees laughed. “Stop staring and suck me.”

Aiden reached up and tugged at Gaetan’s breeches with numb fingers. He managed to get them unlaced and push them out of the way, then drag down the braies that already had a wet patch from the pre-come welling at the tip of Gaetan’s hard cock. It didn’t look so big, Aiden thought. Not that much bigger than ones he’d taken before. He opened his mouth, and choked as Gaetan dragged him down by the hair, shoving into Aiden’s throat. Gaetan pulled Aiden off, letting him cough and sputter for a moment, then pulled him back down. 

Aiden’s participation wasn’t required as Gaetan fucked his face. Aiden had simply to keep his mouth open and his teeth covered as Gaetan guided Aiden’s head where he wanted it, now all the way down, choking on the bulbous cockhead invading his throat, now in and out at an impatient pace as drool seeped from the corner of Aiden’s mouth. Reflexive tears sprang to Aiden’s eyes, but they were only that--reflexive. This wasn’t that bad. Not that much worse than when one of his yearmates got too excited or a little rough. Aiden could take it.

It wasn’t long before Gaetan dragged Aiden all the way onto him and came down his throat, pulse after pulse of hot, salty seed pumping into him. Aiden doubled over as Gaetan let him go, coughing as come spilled from his mouth on the floor. His scalp ached from where Gaetan had gripped him.

“I’m not cleaning that up later,” Axel said. 

“Right, catling. Clean up after yourself.” Gaetan put a boot on the back of Aiden’s neck and pressed him down towards the mess. Aiden resisted, bracing his hands on the floor to keep his face up. 

“Hey, trainee,” Cedric’s voice lashed out from behind Aiden. “Listen to your elders and use that fucking tongue.”

Aiden could see Axel’s boots out of the corner of his eye. He could kick Aiden in the face, break some teeth, maybe some bones. They could beat him and kick him until he couldn’t stand, and then do whatever they wanted to him anyway. And it would be stupid to take unnecessary injuries just to make himself feel a little better. That sort of thing was for knights and Griffin witchers, not Cats, who knew when to bend instead of break. 

Aiden lowered his face to the floor and flicked out his tongue to lick at the cooling pile of come. The stone floor was rough and gritty, but the faster he did this, the sooner it would be over with. 

“Look at him,” Axel said. “Eager little slut.”

Aiden’s cheeks burned as he lapped up the mess he’d made. He very much wanted to snap back at Axel, to struggle out from under Gaetan’s foot and leap at them with his bare hands. But that was a stupid, too-hasty tactic against a superior enemy. It wouldn’t gain him anything. So Aiden tried to think of nothing at all as he swallowed seed and dirt. 

“Good boy,” Gaetan said, and took his boot off Aiden’s neck. 

So that was alright. That much was over.

“I want his ass,” Cedric said. Many hands pushed Aiden onto his belly and pulled at his clothes until he was naked against the cold stone floor. Someone pulled his arms up over his head and someone else dragged him up onto his knees so his ass was raised. 

He should have fought, Aiden thought. Cedric was going to fuck him, and it was going to hurt, and he should have fought. 

“You brought grease?” Axel sounded incredulous. 

“You may like a hole that feels like sandpaper. I like to make things easier for myself,” Cedric said, and Gaetan--it must have been Gaetan holding his arms--laughed uproariously. 

Slick fingers shoved into Aiden’s exposed hole, and he grunted, squeezing his eyes shut. This was good, that they were stretching him. The older boys didn’t always bother, Aiden knew from hearing his brothers’ stories. So this was a kindness. He shouldn’t struggle. As if he had any hope of getting away now anyway. Without his clothes, running out into the castle would be a deeply stupid thing to do. He was lucky there were only three of them. Really, this was probably the best he could have hoped for, since he’d been stupid enough to get himself caught in the first place. 

Aiden heard the sounds of Cedric slicking up his own cock. Then hands, one grease-slick, grabbed hold of Aiden’s hips, and Cedric’s cock slid against his ass.

“You like that?” Cedric asked. “You want my cock?”

“Answer him,” Gaetan said warningly, squeezing Aiden’s wrists. “Tell him you want it.”

“I want it,” Aiden muttered into the stone floor. This too, wasn’t that bad. If they wanted to tease him a little, fine. At least they weren’t doing anything that would cause lasting damage.

“What, catling? Louder.”

Aiden had to swallow hard before he could choke out the words. “I want it.”

“Well, then it’d be rude not to fuck you,” Cedric said. He snapped his hips forward, forcing the round head of his cock inside Aiden’s body.

Aiden bit his lip to keep from screaming. Screaming and struggling would just activate their prey drive, make them want to hurt him. He just needed to endure. And he could. He could. He kept his eyes closed as Cedric speared him open, spitting Aiden on his cock. Tears were leaking from Aiden’s eyes again, but he told himself they were only reflexive. 

Cedric took his time getting his cock fully seated inside Aiden. For his part, Aiden tried not to notice how it felt, or what it did to his body. He tried to concentrate on the cold of the floor, the texture of the stone against his cheek. It got harder when Cedric at last began fucking him in hard, long strokes. 

Aiden held as still as he could while it happened. He felt as if he’d run ten times around the training course, weak and exhausted. There was no point in resisting. Cedric was already fucking him. He didn’t need to make a fuss like he was some virginal village maiden. They were just going to fuck him, and then they’d leave him alone. He could hold out that long. Cedric groaned as he filled Aiden up with his seed. At least Aiden wouldn’t have to swallow it.

“Your turn.” Cedric stood and stepped away. 

Aiden ached. He felt come sliding out of his stretched hole. Fine, that was fine. It wasn’t blood, at least. He was fine. But... Aiden didn’t want to get fucked again. His guts were still churning from the thorough pounding Cedric had given him. 

“Got him nice and open for me, didn’t you?” That was Axel. He kneeled behind Aiden and rubbed a hand over his upturned ass. “Now I’ll show him what a real cock is like.”

Axel grabbed Aiden’s hips, right over the tender spots where Cedric had held him, and dragged Aiden back onto his cock. It shouldn’t have hurt more--Aiden was already slick, already stretched, but Axel’s cock felt monstrous. A high, desperate sound escaped from between Aiden’s teeth. 

And maybe it was the noise, or maybe it was the spike of pain as Axel forced himself further in, but the iron grip Aiden had kept on the simmering panic in his breast slipped, and he lashed out. He kicked his heel back hard, though the blow glanced off Axel’s thigh. He yanked frantically at the grip on his hands. He needed to get free, get away. 

“Hey, settle down. We caught you, now we get to have you.” Axel shoved Aiden forward and dropped his weight onto him, bearing Aiden down to the floor and shoving his cock further inside. 

Aiden screamed and thrashed. He knew he shouldn’t. He knew he should just take his punishment and walk away. But it was as if he wasn’t in control of his own body. He fought until they had him fully pinned down, immobilized. 

And Aiden couldn’t breathe. The air seemed to get struck halfway down, clogging his throat. It was Axel’s weight on him, sure, but something more than that. His heart thudded in his ears, a thunderous rush much faster than it should have been. Terror clawed at his chest the way it hadn’t since he’d been strapped down for the Trials. 

“Hey, little witcher, you with us?” That was Gaetan’s voice. Gaetan kept hold of Aiden’s wrists in one hand, but used the other to brush Aiden’s hair out of his face. “Keep breathing. Axel, stop for just a second. Melitele’s stinking anus, have some fucking patience, all right? Kid? Hey, trainee. Anyone know his--”

“It’s Aiden.” That was Cedric. Aiden hadn’t realized Cedric knew his name. 

“Aiden,” Gaetan said. “Watch me.”

Aiden lifted his head to see Gaetan watching him, brows furrowed in concern. Gaetan put a hand on his chest and took in a long, slow breath. “Deep breath in. Then out. Watch me, and do what I do.”

“And what _are_ you doing?” Axel asked.

“He’s panicking. Look at him.”

“What do I care if he does?”

“Could you try not to be a total prick for a minute? Just a single fucking minute?” Gaetan snapped. “Is that possible?”

“Fine,” Axel growled, but his hips stopped rocking into Aiden, and he held still, waiting with his cock inside Aiden, holding him open. 

“Fine.” Gaetan looked down at Aiden and brushed his fingers over Aiden’s forehead. “Hey, kid. Breathe. Just relax. You’re fine. You’re not hurt. I barely even bruised you taking you down. Witchers can take a lot more pain than these. You’ve been hit in training, haven’t you?”

Gaetan waited until Aiden nodded, then he nodded back. “Yeah, you have. This isn’t so bad. Breathe in. That’s it, breathe out. You’re fine. Axel’s got his big prick in you, filling you up nice and comfy, and he’s just gonna use you to come in, all right? You’ll be fine. We’re not gonna beat the shit out of you after. Just gotta relax and let him fuck you.”

Aiden tried to breathe. He managed to take one long breath with Gaetan, and let it out shakily. Gaetan was right. Aiden shouldn’t be making such a big deal of this. It happened to everyone eventually. He shouldn’t be throwing a fit like a child. 

“How do you know about all this shit?” Cedric asked.

“My sister had these sometimes. When she was a kid.” Gaetan shrugged. “It was learn to talk her down or live with the screaming.”

“You give her that same speech, too?” Cedric asked. “About Axel’s cock?”

“Fuck you,” Gaetan snarled up at Cedric. He drew back his hand, which glowed softly with power as he prepared to form a Sign. “Don’t you fucking talk about my sister.”

“Fine, fine. Sorry,” Cedric said quickly. “Can we get on with it now?”

“What do you say, little cat?” Gaetan looked down at Aiden. His golden eyes really were a very soothing color. “You ready? Just let him fuck you and you’ll be done.”

“Unless I want seconds,” Cedric muttered.

Gaetan ignored him, and petted Aiden’s hair. “Hey. It’s the waiting to see if you’ll be caught that’s the scariest,” he said. “So the worst part’s over.”

“I’m not scared,” Aiden bit out. The terror had subsided a bit, and though he was still shaking, he wasn’t held by the same mindless terror he had been.

“This the first time you’ve been fucked, catling?” Gaetan asked.

“No,” Aiden snapped. He decided he could count explorations with his fingers, because he didn’t want Gaetan or anyone else feeling sorry for him. “I’m not a baby.”

“No. You’re not.” Gatean managed to sound not at all condescending. “You can take this. It’s just a cock.”

“A very nice cock,” Axel put in. “The best cock in the room.”

“You’re such an asshole,” Cedric said. 

“Relax and let him fuck you, all right?” Gaetan said. “Come here.” He folded his legs and scootched forward so Aiden’s head was in his lap instead of against the rough stone floor. “You ready?”

Aiden swallowed down the fear that swelled in him, and nodded. He tried to relax as Axel moved, shoving into his body again. He held onto Gaetan’s hand and breathed in the scent of his clothes and his body. It was pleasant to have an anchor, something he could concentrate his senses on while he tried to ignore Axel’s cock slamming into him, Axel’s heavy balls slapping against his skin. 

When Axel came inside him, groaning loudly, Gaetan petted Aiden’s hair and said, “That wasn’t so hard, was it? You’re fine.”

“I want his mouth,” Cedric announced immediately, and they dragged Aiden up onto his knees. 

They each ended up taking another turn with Aiden, and he thought maybe at least one of them took him a third time. Nothing hurt worse than what Aiden had suffered in practice, but then again, no practice injury had ever felt like this. That seed of panic kept simmering in Aiden’s belly, threatening to break through the surface and send him into another fit. But he really did not want to find out if they would just hold him down and fuck him through it as he gulped for air like a dying fish. And once in a while Gaetan would squeeze his hand or ruffle his hair and tell him he was doing well. 

Then Aiden found himself free, without any of their cocks in him, though he was still naked and on the floor. 

Aiden looked up to see the three older Cats lounging on the bunk next to him, passing around a demijohn of wine. 

“You done?” Axel asked. “Or not. You sticking around until we get a second wind?”

Aiden dragged himself up onto his knees, then to his feet, and gathered his clothes and boots in his arms. 

“Can I go?” he asked, looking at the floor.

Gaetan gestured magnanimously towards the door. “Now everyone can smell you’ve been claimed for today, and the others’ll leave you alone.”

“Will they?” Aiden asked, looking up

“Yeah. It’s not sporting if you don’t catch your own.” Gaetan shrugged and took another swig from the demijohn. “You can go get a bath, get some food, whatever.”

Aiden nodded and shuffled towards the door. As he passed the bed, Axel reached out to slap him on the ass. “See you next time, catling.”

“It’s so much better to get caught early in the day,” Cedric was saying to Gaetan. “I never understood why more of the young ‘uns don’t just do that.”

“Yeah, well you never saw a cock you didn’t want to take,” Gaetan said

“It’s a gift. Gimme that.” Cedric grabbed the demijohn from Gaetan’s hand.

Aiden pulled the door closed behind him and drifted out into the corridor, holding his bundle of clothes tight to his chest. He didn’t go to the baths, or the kitchens. He walked, naked and barefoot, back to his cohort’s dormitory. He didn’t see anyone on the way, though he heard screams and laughter and shouting echoing down the corridors from elsewhere in the castle. 

Once he’d closed the door behind him, Aiden sank to his knees on the floor, chest stuttering as he tried to breathe but could only force in short, uneven breaths that shuddered on the way out. He tried to picture Gaetan’s face, his calm voice, saying, “Breathe in, breathe out.” Aiden stayed on the floor a long time, until he was fairly sure he wasn’t dying. He wasn’t dying. He hadn’t even really been injured. He forced himself to his feet, then, and though the world spun a bit around him, he kept his footing. He was alive, he wasn’t badly hurt, and nothing they’d done would leave permanent damage. Aiden was alive. 

That was all that mattered.


End file.
